Clue Writing Competition
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Just before Christmas Tilsit offered a small prize for the best clue for THE CRAB. Twelve entries were received, and these were judged by all the contributors to the blog. The top five (of which there are six) are as follows:
| Position | Name | Clue |
| 1 | Alan | Sign of man getting credit within bill |
| 2 | Paul Howarth | Holy bed in which I became a sign |
| 3 | Bill | Tossing th’ caber makes one miserable |
| 4 | Prolixic | This creature was created from earth before Christ |
| 5 | Chris22125 | Shuffle batch about for summer sign |
| 5 | Franny | This creature could be a sign of disease. |
Congratulations to Alan – Tilsit will be in touch soon.
Well done, Alan!
Well done everyone but in particular Alan – very nice clues.
I wonder whether entrants would be interested in more than just the results. The full set of 12 seemed a rather mixed bag, and although the judges didn’t entirely agree, five of the twelve got no votes at all (7 judges each picked their favourite three, in order). I wonder whether those five would like to know why? When judging clues I’m always looking for a combination of a good definition, fair wordplay, and a convincing surface meaning. For me, the def. had to use the star sign, as other meanings had no reason to be THE CRAB rather than just CRAB.
Peter,
All I can say to your comment is ditto.
I would point out that Alan was the first choice of 4 out of 7 of us.
Bloggers,
Thanks for the vote of confidence, but you will be reassured to know that I aren’t planning on giving up my day job!!!
Writing that one clue made me appreciate just how difficult it is.
Alan
Bother, I must have missed this in the pre-Christmas rush. Congrats to all, and just for fun here’s one from me:
Sign of new child’s first breath (3,4)
The nice seasonal reading came out accidentally after I spent way too long fiddling with readings based on card games since Cancer comes in between Gemini and Leo (a pair and a king)!
That would have been the winner for me.
I have only just noticed this via Anax’s comment. Can only agree with his comment. An excellent clue.
I have to agree – very good clue!
Wow. Thanks for the kind comments, guys.
It was quite a curious experience working a clue out – like writing a very very tiny poem, only more so. Fascinating.